RIPA’s vision for Park-as-Lab is a research collaborative where scientists, environmental advocates, and communities work together on scientific research. Park-as-Lab works to encourage civic engagement, support STEM career paths, and increase our understanding of New York City’s ecosystems, ultimately promoting more resilient communities.
Through promoting opportunities to participate in and increase understanding of scientific research, Park-as-Lab aims to:
- Facilitate applied environmental science and ecology research on Randall’s Island
- Support community needs by promoting public participation in science research from conception to implementation
- Foster partnerships through continued engagement and communication
Click here to view our data and reports.
For more info or to get involved, contact us at [email protected] or (212) 860-1899.
Community Survey
Park -as-Lab is interested in conducting urban ecology for the people, by the people. PAL looks to answer community questions and concerns. We would love to know what you want to learn about your local environment! Please share your thoughts and help us shape future PAL monitoring and research projects.
What does the Park-as-Lab program do?
Urban Ecology Research
Through the Park-as-Lab Program, researchers from high school, college, and graduate to professional levels use Randall’s Island as a site to explore scientific questions related to environmental science and urban ecology. Student researchers, with an adviser from their school, conduct independent research projects or assist with a long-term monitoring project on the Island. Topics range from the impact of water quality on fish community composition to evaluating the ability of plants and soil microbes to remediate soil. RIPA also asks for input from local stakeholders so that research through Park-as-Lab reflects community-identified needs and interests.
Environmental Monitoring & Community Engagement
RIPA works to connect youth and adults to the Island through environmental monitoring. Interested students, individuals, and organizations have opportunities to work with RIPA’s Natural Areas Department and participate in monitoring projects, such as counting and identifying the fish species that live in our waterways and tagging monarch butterflies migrating through New York City. Staff and volunteers collect data to contribute to larger citywide and regional projects that improve our understanding of local ecosystems. Check out RIPA’s website for opportunities to participate in Park-as-Lab events and environmental monitoring activities.
Outreach & Online Resources
RIPA works with partner organizations to ensure that research on Randall’s Island is informed by and benefits the surrounding communities. Data and reports from research and monitoring projects are shared on RIPA’s website. Attend a data interpretation workshop, view our summary reports, or check out lesson plans to learn about how you can use data available on our website and what they mean to you.
Park-as-Lab Interactive Map
Our interactive map visualizes locations at which ongoing and completed environmental monitoring or academic partner projects at Randall’s Island Park are conducted. Since 2011, students, professional researchers, RIPA staff, and volunteers have participated in a variety of community science and research projects related to urban ecology and environmental science. The map serves as a repository of all these research efforts. Users can locate sites where researchers have collected data related to water quality, vegetation, and wildlife on and around Randall’s Island. Information associated with each point directs the user to corresponding datasets, reports, and/or posters on the Randall’s Island Park Alliance website that are available for download.
How to use this map
Visualize points where research is conducted on Randall’s Island using the panel to the right. You can turn layers on and off using the Wildlife, Water Quality and Vegetation buttons. This allows you to visualize a portion of or all of the projects on Randall’s Island depending on your interest.
Download datasets, reports, and posters
By clicking on an individual point, you can see the project name and description. There is also a link to materials (datasets, reports, or posters) that contains or uses data collected at the location of the point. All of these materials are available for download.
Project Categories
Vegetation
Wildlife
Water Quailty
Data Repository
- All
- Birds
- Fish
- Insects
- Vegetation
- Water Quality
- Wildlife
A Benthic Macroinvertebrate Survey of Little Hell Gate Salt Marsh
A Benthic Macroinvertebrate Survey of Little Hell Gate Salt Marsh
A survey of benthic macroinvertebrate species diversity and abundance in the Little Hell Gate Salt Marsh. This study aims to characterize the benthic macroinvertebrate community and link the presence of certain indicator species to salt marsh ecosystem benefits.
Report: PDF
A Survey of Fish Diversity and Water Quality on Randall’s Island
A Survey of Fish Diversity and Water Quality on Randall’s Island
The purpose of this study was to better understand the ways in which decreased water quality impact NYC’s urban fish communities, and which fish species are most sensitive to changes in water quality.
Report: PDF
Assessing the Capacity of Restored Salt Marshes to Process Nitrogen and Phosphorus
Assessing the Capacity of Restored Salt Marshes to Process Nitrogen and Phosphorus
Salt marshes may help reduce nitrogen and phosphorus in ecosystems but it is unclear if restored marshes can provide this function. RIPA and partners at Baruch College measured dissolved gas and nutrient fluxes from salt marshes at Randall’s Island and compared these to adjacent unrestored habitat.
Poster: PDF
Billion Oyster Project
Billion Oyster Project
RIPA staff, volunteers, and students monitor an oyster cage installed by Billion Oyster Project to assess eastern oyster growth and survival and observe other marine organisms using oyster shells and oyster cage as habitat.
Christmas Bird Count
Christmas Bird Count
Randall’s Island Park Alliance staff participate in the nation’s longest-running community science bird project: Audubon’s Christmas Bird Count. This information allows researchers and agencies to understand the long-term health and status of bird populations across North America.
Citizens’ Water Quality Testing Program
Citizens’ Water Quality Testing Program
Randall’s Island Park Alliance staff, volunteers, and members of the public participate in weekly water quality testing to detect bacteria from the genus Enterococcus, which are associated with fecal coliform presence.
Fish & Crustacean Survey – Seining
Fish & Crustacean Survey – Seining
Randall’s Island Park Alliance staff, volunteers, and members of the public participate in monthly fish and crustacean monitoring at two locations on Randall’s Island.
Fish and Crustacean Survey – Rod and Reel
Fish and Crustacean Survey – Rod and Reel
Randall’s Island Park staff and partners in the East River Ichthyological Alliance worked with the public to catch, measure, and release fish during clinics. Data collected from this survey will help build a database of information about fish in the East River.
Fresh Water and Hell Gate Meadow Summer Pollinator and Bloom Survey
Fresh Water and Hell Gate Meadow Summer Pollinator and Bloom Survey
Bee populations have been steadily declining, raising serious concerns for the future of their species and associated plants. This project aimed to survey Hymenopteran species and other pollinators to help understand how land managers can promote a healthier pollinator community.
Report: PDF
Monarch Tagging
Monarch Tagging
The Natural Areas Department participates in multiple projects that pertain to monarchs including tagging to researchers understand migration patterns and sampling monarch abdominal scales to understand the spread of a monarch parasite.
Non-Indigenous Plant Inventory
Non-Indigenous Plant Inventory
Randall’s Island Park staff and interns conducted a non-native invasive species inventory for three of the natural areas on the island. The inventory will help the staff determine the success of invasive species management activities.
Maps: PDF
Oyster Substrate Identification in the Little Hell Gate Bridge Shoreline
Oyster Substrate Identification in the Little Hell Gate Bridge Shoreline
The goal of this project was to determine types of substrates on Randall’s Island, specifically the area around the Little Hell Gate Bridge, that provide habitat for oysters.
Report: PDF
Phytoremediation at the Living Shoreline
Phytoremediation at the Living Shoreline
The recently restored Living Shoreline(LS) meadow of Randall’s Island hosted a EPA funded field study looking at the potential for phytoremediation in urban park lands. Plant and soil were sampled every week from May to September in 2021.
Phytoremediation Strategies in Contaminated Shoreline Soils
Phytoremediation Strategies in Contaminated Shoreline Soils
The purpose of our study is to assess the ability of plants and soil biota to remediate urban shoreline soils. We are designing a two-year field monitoring study on a 2-acre shoreline site on Randall’s Island.
Poster: PDF
Vertebrate Scavenging along an Urbanization Gradient
Vertebrate Scavenging along an Urbanization Gradient
Effects of urbanization on the vertebrate scavenger community, their feeding behaviors, and ecosystem services scavengers provide is poorly understood. The authors studied vertebrate scavenger community and carcass removal rates along an urbanization gradient in New York State.
Poster: PDF
Wetland Vegetation Survey
Wetland Vegetation Survey
RIPA staff and interns conduct vegetation surveys (annual or every 2 years) in two restored salt marshes. The objectives of wetland vegetation monitoring on the island are to evaluate whether restoration efforts are providing habitat for macroinvertebrates and to detect shifts in plant community composition associated with improved salt marsh ecosystem function.
Many thanks to RIPA’s growing list of “Lab Partners” including:
